Come together over me(dia) …
when it comes to ownership, new mergers muddy the water
20 August, 2011 – The Media Act of 2006, which looks at licensing and ownership, is being revised to keep up with the changes in technology that is bringing about a convergence of different media platforms.
Media professionals refer to the ability to watch television or read newspapers on computers, or listen to the radio online as convergence or, specifically, technological convergence.
Information and communications secretary Dasho Kinley Dorji said with technological convergence, the concept of cross-ownership has changed.
The Media Act does not allow cross-ownership, which means, an individual cannot own two different forms of media. Section 26 (2) (b) of the Act states … “impose necessary restrictions on cross-media ownership, with a view to preventing anti-competitive practices and monopolies”.
“As technology changes, the rules must change, which means we go back to the whole purpose of the rule or regulation in the past,” the secretary said. “It was to prevent anyone monopolising the media. So, if technology and media has now converged, you’ll need the rules and regulations to be updated,” Dasho Kinley Dorji said. “That’s the main goal – to prevent multiple ownership of media.”
Almost every country has limits and restrictions on media ownership by one person or a group of persons including corporate entities, barrister and lecturer at the university of Ulster, department of school of law in Northern Ireland, Dr Venkat Iyer said.
“This is to prevent monopolies and concentration of power or influence in a small number of entities,” Dr Iyer said in an email interview. “How the limits are imposed and how they are implemented or enforced is a very difficult and complex area of the law which most countries grapple with at some time or the other.”
Dr Iyer, who is the consultant reviewing Bhutan’s media laws, said its also important to ensure that enough safeguards are put in place to prevent abuse of licensing or regulatory power by the government.
“In case of Bhutan, the provisions in the media Act clearly need refining and fine-tuning,” he said. “The challenge is to allow for the healthy growth and development of media without undue hindrance by the government.”
According to the Media Act a media house can only own one media license. Which means a newspaper, for example, Kuensel, starting a TV or a radio station would mean cross ownership, Dr Iyer said. “Investment by one media operator in the operations or share holding of another operator without necessarily owning the other media entity wholly or outright also means cross-ownership.”
But since, Kuensel has a publishing license the paper can expand it publications like magazines according to a BICMA official.
Having an online version of the printed stories is allowed, because the content would be the same, and that an alternative medium is used to disseminate the same information.
A chief executive officer of a private newspaper said cross-media ownership still needs to be defined because no one in the media knows what is allowed or not allowed. Restricting cross-media ownership is allowing people to resort to other means he said. “What’s wrong with monoply?,” he said. “There’ll be no media growth if there is restriction.”
But another editor of a private newspaper said monopoly in media is dangerous. “And there is room for cross media ownership today,” he said. “People can open in anybody’s name and the authority or the ministry has no control over it because they only cross check the license holder’s name and not who is investing.”
BICMA officials said such “proxys” are not allowed and if found, would result in licenses being revoked.
License for a new media house is also not issued if the applicant owns more than 25 percent of share in another media house.
The Media Act is silent on, if members of a family, for example, a husband and a wife can own two separate licenses for media houses.
Observers feel that cross-media ownership is already happening, indicating corruption in the small and growing Bhutanese media.
How converged the Media Act would be after the review is yet to be known.
The authority insists that its job is to ensure there is no monopoly or cross-media ownership, directly or indirectly. It needs an official complaint to be filed for it to go about investigating.
By Sonam Pelden in Kuensel